Sectional cap type double edge safety razor unit



P 1969 J. DAWIDOWICZ ETAL 3,466,746

SECTIONAL CAP TYPE DOUBLE EDGE SAFETY RAZOR UNIT Filed Aug. 21, 1967 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTORS JAN DAW/DOWICZ LEOPOLD K. KUHNL FRANK A. FERRARO ATT'YS.

p 16, 1959 J. DAWIDOWICZ ETAL 3,466,746

SECTIONAL CAP TYPE DOUBLE EDGE SAFETY RAZOR UNIT Filed Aug. 21. 1967 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 IN VENTORS JAN DAWlDOW/CZ LEOPOLD K. KUHNL FRANK A. FERRARO Sept. 16, 1969 3,466,746

SECTIONAL CAP TYPE DOUBLE EDGE SAFETY RAZOR UNIT Filed Aug. 21. 1967 J. DAWIDOWICZ ET AL 5 Sheets-Sheet INVENTORS JAN DAW/DOWICZ LEOPOLD K. KUHNL FRANK A. FERRARO p 1969 J. nAwloowlcz ETAL 3,466,746

SECTIONAL CAP TYPE DOUBLE EDGE SAFETY RAZOR UNIT Filed Aug. 21, 1967 ,5 Sheets-Sheet 4 mm 52 H mm w O W R K M0 T Em /T A A WAKW M F LJm W & 1

p 15, 1969 J. DAWIDOWICZ ETAL 3,466,746

SECTIONAL CAP TYPE DOUBLE EDGE SAFETY RAZOR UNIT Filed Aug. 21, 1967 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTORS JAN DAWIDOWICZ FRANK A. FERRARO LEOPOLD K. KUHNL BY XM, M 0%- ATT'YS.

United States Patent 3,466,746 SECTIONAL CAP TYPE DOUBLE EDGE SAFETY RAZOR UNIT Jan Dawidowicz, Fairfield, Frank A. Ferraro, Monroe,

and Leopold K. Kuhnl, Stratford, (Ionrn, assignors to Eversharp, Inc., Milford, Conn., a corporation of Delaware Filed Aug. 21, 1967, Ser. No. 661,957 Int. CI. 13261) 21/18 U.S. Cl. 3060.5 9 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLGSURE A safety razor of the double edge, sectional cap type having a molded one-piece handle, blade seat and guards. A cross strap mounts sectional caps on cross bars with the cross strap being joined to a one-piece center bar and stem assembly of molded plastic. A plastic operating knob is received in an opening in the handle beneath the blade seat and functions to move the center bar and cross strap to cause opening and closing of the sectional caps. An enlarged knob-like formation on the stem is shaped to expand fingers in the operating knob during assembly, however, the fingers act as a stop to limit opening of the caps and preclude disassembly.

This invention relates to improvements in safety razors and, more specifically, is directed to improvements in safety razors of the double edge, sectional cap type. Because of its unique design, the razor of the present invention is capable of being inexpensively manufactured and assembled without an appreciable sacrifice in razor quality, shaving performance or overall accuracy. The reduction in manufacturing cost is largely attributable to the novel design which permits basic parts to be formed of molded plastic rather than by prior techniques such as stamping and machining as was done in the past. Certain advantages accrue because of the use of plastic parts, namely their resistance to permanent deformation when the razor is accidentally dropped, the overall ability to resist corrosion, and the manner in which they can be inexpensively formed.

The present razor is formed from combination metal and plastic parts, and assembly is achieved in a unique manner by deforming the metal parts into overlying engagement with lug-like formations formed on the plastic parts. The knob means which permits opening and closing of the sectional caps is also plastic and is located immediately beneath the blade seat where it is not subject to accidental turning, as can occur in the prior art designs having the knob located at the lower end of the handle. Flexible finger means in the knob permits easy assembly of the stern and knob, and thereafter serves as a stop to limit the opening of the sectional caps and prevent disassambly.

Safety razors of the two-part or sectional cap type in and of themselves are well known. Broadly considered, the prior art relating to this basic design is well developed, however, ample room remains for improvement, especially in the area of manufacturing costs. In the past, the cost of razor manufacture has traditionally been such that only a small margin of profit, if any, was realized on the finished product. In the usual razor and blade manufacturing operation, manufacturers rely on the sale of razor blades to provide the margin of profit. Because of its novel design, the subject razor is inexpensive to manufacture when compared with prior art models of similar kind and quality and, therefore, can provide for a better margin of profit while being commercially competitive. A better understanding and greater appreciation of the salient features of the present invention which give ice rise to the above-named advantages may be had by reference to the objects achieved and a detailed description of a representative embodiment.

It is an object of this invention to provide a new and improved safety razor of the double edge, sectional cap type which is inexpensive to manufacture and assemble.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a safety razor of the double edge type having a novelly constructed spider assembly formed from a metal cross strap and plastic center bar having an integral stem.

It is a still further object of this invention to provide a new and improved safety razor having a novel means to permit assembly of the spider assembly into the handle Without requiring riveting or the like.

Additional objects other than those specifically set forth will become apparent when reference is made to the following description made in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIGURE 1 is an exploded perspective view of th safety razor of the present invention;

FIGURE 2 is a perspective view of the razor of FIG URE 1 after assembly and the sectional caps are moved to the closed position;

FIGURE 3 is a bottom plan view of the cross strap;

FIGURE 4 is a side elevational view of the cross strap shown in FIGURE 3;

FIGURE 5 is a side elevational view of the center bar and stem;

FIGURE 6 is a top plan view of the center bar and stem shown in FIGURE 5;

FIGURE 7 is an enlarged top plan view of the handle assembly;

FIGURE 8 is a fragmentary front elevational view on a reduced scale of the upper part of the handle assembly;

FIGURE 9 is a fragmentary side elevational view of the upper part of the handle shown in FIGURE 8;

FIGURE 10 is an enlarged longitudinal cross-sectional view of the assembled razor shown in FIGURE 2 with the center bar and stem shown in full elevation;

FIGURE 11 is a cross-sectional view taken generally along the line 1111 of FIGURE 10;

FIGURE 12 is a top plan view of a modified form of cross strap;

FIGURE 13 is a side elevational view of the cross strap shown in FIGURE 12;

FIGURE 14 is a side elevational view of a modified form of center bar and stem assembly;

FIGURE 15 is a top plan view of the center bar and stem assembly shown in FIGURE 14;

FIGURE 16 1s a cross-sectional view through the center bar taken generally along the line 1616 of FIGURE 14;

FIGURE 17 is a top plan view of the center bar and stem assembly shown in FIGURES 14-16 after assembly with the cross strap of FIGURES 12 and 13 to form a spider subassembly;

FIGURE 18 is a side elevational view of the spider subassembly of FIGURE 17;

FIGURE 19 is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken generally along the line 19-19 of FIGURE 18;

FIGURE 20 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the spider subassembly after insertion into a handle of a .type similar to that shown in FIGURE 1; and

FIGURE 21 is a cross-sectional view taken generally along the line 2121 of FIGURE 20.

Referring now to FIGURE 1, the basic parts forming the safety razor of the present invention are indicated generally by the reference numeral 19 and include a handle 11, knob 12, cross strap 13, center bar and stem assembly 14, and sectional caps 15 and 16. As will become apparent hereinafter, the handle 11, knob 12, and center bar and stem assembly 14 may be formed from plastic molded to the configuration shown, while the remaining parts may be formed of brass or other metal by stamping and/or bending and subsequently plating, if necessary, for a good appearance.

The handle 11 includes a hand gripping portion 29 which may be provided with suitable ribs 21 which enhance the handling of the razor during the shaving operation. The upper end of the handle 11 flares outwardly as at 22 and terminates in a blade seat 23. During molding, the seat may be provided with relief recesses 24 to enhance the curing of the plastic, reduce the quantity required and lighten the weight of the razor without adversely affecting its strength. The flared upper end 22 is provided with a transverse opening 25 of generally trapezoidal configuration when viewed in cross section as seen in FIGURES 8 and and adapted to accept the frustoconical knob 12, which contains a threaded bore 26 and ribbed circumference 27. As is apparent in FIGURES 7 and 10, the lower wall of the transverse opening intersects a cylindrical opening 30, while the upper wall intersects an opening 31 which, as illustrated in FIGURE 7, is provided with keys 32 and 33. The functions of the keys 32 and 33 and openings and 31 will be described in detail in the description of the assembled razor which follows.

The blade seat 23 is provided with guard bars 34 and 35 at opposite margins, while the center of the blade seat is provided with a longitudinally extending slot 36 disposed intermediate and generally parallel to the guard bars 34 and 35. As best seen in FIGURE 7, the blade seat is provided with longitudinally projecting lugs 46, 41, 42 and 43 at the opposite ends of guard bars 34 and 35 for co-operation with arms on the caps, as shown in FIGURE 2, to cause opening and closing on shifting of the spider and stem assembly. Suitable openings 44 and 45 may be formed adjacent the guard bar 34 to permit passage of the shaving product with similar openings 46 and 47 provided adjacent the guard bar 35.

The longitudinally extending slot 36 is provided with an enlarged central portion 50, having oppositely directed grooves 51 and 52 which merge with enlarged end portions 53 and 54, respectively. It is to be appreciated that the cross strap 13 may be formed to a complementary shape, including the proviision of a center opening 55, having key slots 56 and 57 projecting from opposite sides thereof. The cross strap is provided with integral cross braces 60 and 61 at opposite ends, which braces are of conventional variety and mount the sectional caps 15 and 16 in a conventional manner for opening and closing as described above. A pair of openings 62 and 63 are provided in the cross strap on opposite sides of the opening 55 to receive downwardly projecting arms 64 and 65, respectively, on the center bar and stem assembly 14. Suitable assembly lugs 66 and 67 are formed on one end of the cross strap 13, while similar lugs 68 and 69 are formed on the opposite end, with both pairs of lugs being formed intermediate the openings 62 and 63 on opposite sides of the stem receiving opening 55. These lugs cooperate with complementary-shaped lugs formed on 0pposite sides of the center bar 70. Two of these lugs are illustrated at 71 and 72 in FIGURE 1.

The center bar and stem assembly 14 includes the center bar 70 having downwardly projecting arms 64 and for reception in openings 62 and 63 in the cross strap 13. A stem 73 is formed integral with the center bar and includes a threaded portion 74 and section of reduced diameter 75 which terminates in an integral enlarged knob-like formation 76 on the lower end. The knob-like formation 76 is of a diameter greater than the stem section 75, however, is lesser in diameter than the major diameter of the threads 74 to permit passage through the bore 26 in the knob 14. The lower end of the knob-like formation 76 is shaped to a frusto-conical contour in molding for reasons to become aparent.

The center bar 70 is illustrated in the views of FIG- URES 5 and 6 and includes key portions 80 and 81 formed on opposite sides of the stem 73. The key portions 80 and 81 are received in the key slots 56 and 57, formed in the cross strap with a reasonably good fit to assure proper alignment of the arms 64 and 65 during assembly and rigid attachment of the parts, as the keys 80 and 81 also serve to rigidify the connection with the cross bar and stem assembly 14.

As seen in FIGURE 6, the lugs 82 and 83, which are identical to lugs 71 and 72, are formed beneath tapered guides 85, 86, 87 and 88, respectively, which facilitate guided placement and removal of the razor blade center slot (not shown) over the center bar. The guides 8588 assure that the blade will drop under force of gravity to rest on the blade seat 23 when the sectional caps 15 and 16 are moved to the closed position by rotating the knob 12. This function may be more easily appreciated upon reference to the cross-sectional view of FIGURE 12 which illustrates the relation of the lugs 66 and 67 with the guides 85 and 87. As can be appreciated, the lugs are positioned within the outer edges of the guides 85 and 87 so as to prevent the edges of the center slot of the blade from getting caught on the lugs during removal or positioning for shaving.

The razor parts may be assembled in the following manner. The stem and cross bar assembly 14 is positioned within the cross strap as illustrated in the cross-sectional view of FIGURE 10 with the arms 64 and 65 projecting through the associated slots 62 and 63. The keys 80 and 81 project through the key slots 56 and 57 on opposite sides of the stem 73. After alignment, the lugs 66 and 67, which are in an expanded condition as shown in FIG- URE 1 prior to assembly, are then deformed inwardly to interlock with the lugs 71 and 82 on the center bar 70. This effectively locks the center bar, stem and cross strap together. If desired, the lower ends of the arms 64 and 65 may be heat staked to overlie the underside of the cross strap to join the parts. The arms on the cross braces 60 and 61 are expanded so that the axially projecting lugs receive openings in the caps 15 and 16 in a conventional manner, and thereby complete formation of a spider subassembly. The spider subassembly formed by assembly of these parts is positioned in the razor handle with the frusto-conical portion of the knob-like formation 76 expanding the axially projecting fingers 90 and 91 at the bottom of the threaded opening 26. The fingers 90 and 91 return to the position shown to preclude withdrawal of the stem from the knob 12 because, as seen in FIGURE 10, the bottom of the fingers will engage the shoulder at the upper end of the enlarged knob-like formation 76.

The arms 64 and 65 project downwardly through the cross strap 13 to maintain the center bar 70 properly aligned with the cross strap 13 and cross braces 60 and 61. The opposite ends of the longitudinal groove 36 are vertically relieved as at 92 and 93 to permit the arms 64 and 65 to have adequate clearance when the caps 15 and 16 are brought to the closed position, as is indicated in the cross-sectional view of FIGURE 10.

In summary, the center bar and stem assembly 14 is assembled to the cross strap 13 by interfitting the parts and deforming the lugs 6669. The subassembly formed by the addition of the caps 15 and 16 is inserted in the handle 11 after the knob 12 is located in the transverse opening 25 with the threaded bore 26 in alignment with the stem receiving opening 31. The parts may be then pushed together and the knob rotated to engage the threads and the razor is fully assembled and ready for use.

In operation, when the knob 12 is rotated, the spider subassembly shifts vertically upward, causing the arms on the caps to engage the associated lugs 40-43 and pivot to the open position. The location of the knob-like formation 76 on the end of the stem relative to the threads is chosen so as to permit the caps to fully open but not go beyond a point where they will not automatically return to the blade clamping position when the knob 14 is rotated in a reverse direction. A double edge razor blade maybe placed on the blade seat and the caps brought to the closed position as shown in FIGURES 2 and by rotating the knob in a reverse direction. This clamps the blade to the seat for shaving.

A modified form of the invention is illustrated in FIG- URES 1221. It is contemplated that a slightly modified handle, identical knob and sectional caps of the type shown in FIGURES l and 2 will be used with the modified form of cross strap and center bar and stem assembly illustrated and described in detail below.

Referring specifically to FIGURES 12 and 13, a modified form of cross strap 110 includes an elongated body portion 111 having upstanding side walls 112 and 113 formed by folding a part of the main body upwardly, forming a generally channel-shaped cross-sectional configuration. A center opening 114 is positioned intermediate cross braces 115 and 116, the latter being of conventional design and including a known type of pivot means to mount sectional caps of the type shown at and 16 in FIGURE 1, operating in the conventional manner. The upstanding side walls 112 and 113 rigidify the cross strap 110, permitting it to be fabricated from thinner metal. The side walls 112 and 113 also perform an additional function in that they are used in joining the center bar and stem assembly shown generally at 120 in FIGURES 14 and 15 to the cross strap 110 in a manner to be described.

The center bar and stem assembly 120 is similar in construction to the center bar and stem assembly 14 in FIG- URE 1 with the threads and lower end stem portion 121 identical. In the interest of brevity, specific description of these parts will be omitted. The center bar 122 is provided with a base portion 123 which is slightly thinner than the lower top portion 124 (see FIGURE 16). A pair of transverse openings 125 and 126 are formed in the upper part of the base, extending completely through the center bar 122. Guide means 127, 128, 129 and 130 are shown in FIGURE 15 on the center bar 122 functioning in the manner described with respect to the equivalent guides in the embodiment of FIGURES 111, serving to properly locate the razor blade on the blade seat. The upper part of the stem 121 is slightly different than the stem 73 of FIGURE 1 in that the key members are omitted, however, the base member 123 of the center bar functions as a means to rigidify the junction of the stern 121 and center bar 122.

FIGURES 17, 18 and 19 illustrate the center bar and stem assembly 120 (FIGS. 14 and 15) after assembly with the cross strap 110 (FIGS. 12 and 13) to form a spider subassembly. As is apparent, the base 123 is snugly received between the upstanding side walls 112 and 113 with the end of the base extending along the body 111 of the cross strap terminating adjacent the cross braces 115 and 116. The cross strap 110 is joined to the center bar and stem assembly through deforming a part of the top wall of each of the upstanding side walls 112 and 113 into the transverse openings 125 and 126, as can be seen at 140, 141, 142 and 143 in FIGURE 17. The vertical extent of the deformation along the walls is demonstrated in FIG- URES 18 and 19. As can be appreciated, such operation may be readily accomplished by a simple punching operation and finally serves to interlock the center bar and stem assembly with the cross strap to form a rigid unitary spider subassembly which receives sectional caps.

As seen in FIGURES 14-16, a pair of flats 160 and 161 are formed on the stem 121 in the region of the center bar 122. If desired, the side walls 111 and 112 of the cross strap 110 in the region of the center opening 114 may be deformed into these flats as an alternate or supplemental means of joining the parts.

The spider subassembly shown in FIGURES 18 and 19 is fitted with suitable caps (only one shown at 144' in FIG- URE and the resulting spider assembly is inserted into a handle 145, shown fragmentarily in enlarged cross section in FIGURE 20. An operating knob 146, identical to the knob 12 in FIGURE 1, joins the parts with assembly being accomplished in the sequence described above.

The handle assembly 145 is similar to the handle assembly of FIGURE 1 in all respects with one minor exception. The transverse groove or longitudinally extending slot 36 of the FIGURE 1 design is modified to a generally U- shaped configuration as shown at 147 in FIGURE 21 rather than being of the shape shown. Obviously, the particular shape of the transverse groove 147 in the handle assembly 145 will be dictated by the shape of the interfitted part of the spider assembly.

As shown in FIGURE 21, when the knob is rotated to the fully closed position also shown in FIGURE 20, the caps 144 and cap 144 (shown in cross section) are moved to the closed position to clamp a double edge blade (not shown) to the blade seat 150. Shaving may be accomplished with the razor in the usual manner with replacement and removal of the blade accomplished by rotation of the knob 146 in the appropirate direction.

It is to be appreciated that the safety razor of the present invention is economical to manufacture and assemble, yet these features do not detract from the overall quality and accuracy of the finished product. The plastic parts are molded from any suitable plastic, preferably high impact plastic, and generally are less expensive than parts formed from metal.

Upon a consideration of the foregoing, it will become obvious to those skilled in the art that various modifications may be made without departing from the invention embodied herein. Therefore, only such limitations should be imposed as are indicated by the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

We claim:

1. A safety razor of the double edge, sectional cap type, said safety razor comprising a molded one-piece handle terminating in a blade seat, guard bars formed integral with said blade seat and being positioned at opposite side margins of said blade seat, an elongated slot formed in said blade seat intermediate said guard bars, a cross strap loosely received in said slot and having cross braces at opposite ends extending transversely of said slot, said cross braces supporting sectional caps for opening and closing in response to vertical shifting of said cross strap in said elongated slot, a center bar projecting upwardly from said cross strap and having an integral threaded stern portion projecting through said cross strap downwardly into a longitudinal opening in said handle, means joining said center bar to said cross strap, a knob receiving opening in said handle disposed beneath said blade seat at an angle to and intersecting said longitudinal opening, and a knob disposed in said knob receiving opening for engagement with said threaded stem portion to shift said cross strap and center bar thereby opening and closing said sectional caps.

2. The safety razor of claim 1 wherein said means joining said cross strap to said center bar comprises lug means on said cross strap engageable with co-operating lug means on said center bar, said lug means being interlocked together to join said cross strap to said center bar.

3. The safety razor of claim 2 wherein said lug means on said cross strap are deformable into overlying engagement with said lug means on said center bar after assembly of said center bar to said cross strap thereby to join said cross strap and center bar.

4. The safety razor of claim 1 wherein key means is formed on said center bar, said key means being receivable in complementary shaped slot means formed in said cross strap thereby to maintain said center bar and cross strap properly oriented for assembly into said handle.

5. The safety razor of claim 1 wherein a lower end of said stem portion is provided with an enlarged knoblike formation, said knob-like formation being at least as small in diameter as the inner diameter of co-operating threads formed in said knob, said enlarged knob-like formation having a shoulder thereon for co-operating with resilient finger means on said knob to maintain said knob assembled to said stern after initial assembly of said knob and stem.

6. In a safety razor of the double edge type wherein sectional caps are mounted on a cross strap and center bar assembly for shifting movement to cause opening and closing thereof, the improvement comprising a handle assembly formed from molded plastic and including a hand gripping portion and an integral blade seat portion, said blade seat portion having guard means thereon, a slot centrally of said blade seat portion to receive said cross strap and center bar assembly, and knob means positioned immediately beneath said blade seat portion, said center bar being received at least partially within a portion of said cross strap, said knob means receiving a part of said center bar assembly and being operable on rotation to shift said center bar assembly and cross strap relative to said blade seat whereby said sectional caps will engage said handle assembly and cause opening and closing thereof.

7. The safety razor of claim 6 wherein said part of said center bar assembly received in said knob means comprises an integral threaded stem threadably joined to said knob means, said threaded stern having an enlarged knob-like formation at its lower end and resilient finger means on said knob means permitting passage of said knob-like formation on assembly with said stem and thereafter forming a stop means preventing disassembly.

8. The improvement in safety razors as defined in claim 6 wherein said cross strap and said center bar are joined together by interlocking lug means.

9. The improvement in safety razors as defined in claim 8 wherein blade guide means is located above said interlocking lug means to facilitate smooth replacement of a razor blade over said center bar.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,043,837 6/1936 Muros 3060.5 2,698,995 1/1955 Anastasia 3060.5 3,283,403 11/1966 Chambers 3060.5

MYRON C. KRUSE, Primary Examiner 

